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November 3, 2008

ORANO Achieves Cross-Border Network Connectivity Between Canada and the U.S. With BridgeWave’s Gigabit Wireless Links

by Sam Savage

BridgeWave Communications, the leading supplier of gigabit wireless solutions, today announced that the Optical Regional Advanced Network of Ontario (ORANO) has deployed BridgeWave's AR80X gigabit wireless links to transport research information and serve as a reliable backup network connection between collaborating researchers in Canada and the United States. ORANO relies on BridgeWave's AdaptRate(TM) technology for seamless network connectivity even in harsh weather conditions over cross-border distances.

ORANO, a not-for-profit organization in Ontario, Canada is dedicated to supporting and advancing research, learning and innovation. The organization owns and operates the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION), an "ultra fast" fiber optic network that connects Ontario's universities, colleges, teaching hospitals, and other public research facilities to the global grid of research and education (R&E) networks. ORION, one of the world's largest and most advanced R&E networks, serves more than 80 member organizations in Ontario. The network not only supports intra-network and cross-border collaboration in medical, environmental, social, educational, and physics research, but also supports advanced teaching and learning technologies as well as partnerships.

ORANO's success largely depends on the network's ability to quickly and efficiently transport extremely large data files. The organization sought to link the Point-of-Presence (PoP) at Sault College in Ontario to Merit Network's PoP (the state of Michigan's advanced R&E network) at Lake Superior State University (LSSU). The two institutions are divided by the St. Mary River and stand 6 kilometers (3.75 miles) apart.

ORANO needed a backup to support their primary connection in case of power outages and equipment failures, and the new connection would serve as a secondary path between ORION and Merit. It was a challenge to find a reliable network link, as many vendors did not offer solutions that could scale to gigabit capacity over the long distance and provide highly consistent, uninterrupted connectivity.

ORANO ultimately chose BridgeWave as the preferred solution due to the ability of the radios to operate in harsh weather conditions while providing highly reliable gigabit transport and backup between the Northern Ontario and Michigan institutions. In researching this solution and prior to its implementation, ORANO received a special use permit from Industry Canada to allow operation at 80 GHz.

The new connection allows researchers and educators in both countries to exchange large data sets while also supporting additional communications services such as voice over IP and Internet access between facilities.

"Our members across both networks running various communication applications for their research-oriented projects needed a dependable network link that is not affected by severe weather. We found upper millimeter wave gigabit wireless technology reliable, effective and easy to deploy," said Sam Mokbel, senior director of engineering and operations for ORION. "We needed uninterrupted connectivity for a gigabit of data over long distances between two cities in neighboring countries. Reliability, not price, was the primary consideration, however, BridgeWave's price and ROI made the choice more attractive."

Because of BridgeWave's unique AdaptRate technology, the network also has the ability to throttle down speed from 1 GigE to 100 Mbps, maintaining high availability, even in times of severe weather such as intense downpours.

"Organizations cannot afford to have interruptions when running critical applications. Upper millimeter wave gigabit wireless links are ideally suited to provide the high bandwidth and reliability for applications used for higher education learning purposes," said Amir Makleff, president and chief executive officer for BridgeWave. "In ORANO's case, the BridgeWave links have proven to be seamless and reliable even over long distances in varying geographies."

About BridgeWave Communications

Founded in 1999, BridgeWave Communications is the leading supplier of outdoor Gigabit wireless connectivity solutions. The company's exclusive AdaptRate(TM) and AdaptPath(TM) technologies combined with its advanced Forward Error Correction capability deliver the highest availability at the longest distances for full-rate gigabit links. BridgeWave's point-to-point, wireless solutions are widely deployed in mainstream enterprise and service provider network applications and are poised to play a key role in the migration to 4G mobile network backhaul. With the largest installed base of GigE radios worldwide, BridgeWave delivers the highest levels of product quality and reliability. For more information, visit www.bridgewave.com.